


Altered Core

by Potential Violet (Potential_Violet)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Arguing, Conversations, Explanations, Flirting, Gem Fusion, Geoweapon, Homeworld Gems - Freeform, Hybrids, Idea - Freeform, Immaturity, Impromptu Counselling Session, Kindergarten (Steven Universe), Military Backstory, Office, Other, Resentment, Slavery, Therapy, Uniform Violation, elitism, envy - Freeform, personal assistant, scientists - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-04-27 18:12:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5058781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potential_Violet/pseuds/Potential%20Violet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She'd always said that only fools allowed their biases to stand in the way of progress, and if the progression of Gemkind wasn't the ultimate goal of every kindergarten, then she didn't know what was. As the director of Earth's mineral transmutation plant she sought only the best ideas: if people had a problem with where those ideas came from, then they could take it up with Yellow Diamond...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reintegration

**_For:_ **   
_The fusions,_   
_the mentors and their students,_   
_those who feel abandoned,_   
_the mad scientists,_   
_and the havers of ideas - no matter how big or how small, 'good' or 'bad' - because without you, nothing would exist._

**_Thank you to:_ **   
_ClantucketRed, whose accent tag video formed the backbone of my research into an East Texas accent, and to Kelsey Bobian as well. I hope I've captured the spirit of your accent, and that any Texans who may read this see it as a celebration of your sound, and not an insult to it._

_The Crewniverse, for creating the rich and intriguing concepts on which I've based my own._

_And finally to anyone who reads the story - or any of its chapters - and enjoys it._

_Without further ado, we proudly present: Altered Core_

* * *

_Prime Kindergarten interior: somewhere beneath the canyon._

…

"Well put me down then." said the blond Gem impatiently.

The black Gem extended her arms, unceremoniously dumping her colleague onto the floor.

"Ow." the blond said flatly, scowling up at her.

The black Gem folded her arms.

"This may come as a surprise to you, but when I asked to be put down I didn't mean that I wanted to be dropped…"

"You _asked_ to be put down? I am _so_ sorry, Empress, so sorry. Forgive me for questioning you, but your tone made it sound more like an order, and I know how much you _hate_ it when your orders aren't treated as matters of urgency."

"You're so _funny_." the blonde said icily. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure I told you to stop calling me that…"

"I'm pretty sure you did, but how could I when you're so… imperious? Addressing you without your title, it just wouldn't be right, you know?"

"Are you going to stand there failing at humour all day, or are you going to help me up?"

With a sigh, the black Gem extended her hand and pulled the blond to his feet.

As he brushed himself off he asked her:

"How do you do that anyway?"

"Do what, drop you? I just tilt my arms like this," she said, raising her arms and letting them fall, "and then gravity does the rest."

"I _meant_ , how come you're always holding me when we de-fuse?"

"It's weird you know, I've been asking myself the same question for a while now… Perhaps it's because of your subconscious need for safety and support, both of which you find in my arms?"

"You're literally the most irritating person in this whole facility..." he sighed, covering his brow with his palm. "How… _how_ did I even get stuck with you?"

"Well I'm just throwing some ideas around here, but I'm going to guess that it's because you demand perfection from absolutely everything, and because nobody understands the way my time-management schedule is set up. Ohhhhh yeah, and you just… don't get the concept of delegation."

"That question was meant to be rhetorical." he said irritably.

"It was _meant_ to be? Because—"

" _Reh - tore - ih - cul_!" enunciated the now flustered Gem, cutting her off before he had to hear anything more from her. "Ohmygem I can't actually believe I'm having this conversation with you!" he said, fanning himself melodramatically. "Aren't you supposed to be a _calming_ influence? I swear, stressing me out must be in your job description…"

"And splitting up Onyx must be in yours, but I won't hold it against you." she retorted with a grin.

"Hey, I don't separate him by myself you know! _We_ have to be mentally synchronised to maintain stability: last time I checked, _we_ _,_ involved more than one person."

"Yeah, and one of our persons insists on being in a state of mind that is actually _terrible_ for fusion."

"You make it sound like I consciously brought us here, just to be contrary."

"You _didn't_?!" teased the black Gem with mock incredulity.

"No!" the indignant blond said loudly, confused at how she could even think of such a stupid question.

"…You _can_ be quite contrary though." she said in a matter-of-fact way.

"I'm not contrary!"

"Contrary is the wrong word, isn't it… but you do worry too much."

"I am _not_ worrying! I'm… I'm… I am approaching this with the correct level of seriousness!" he declared accusingly.

She raised a totally unconvinced eyebrow.

"It's true!" he insisted defensively.

"Alright then, Empress; if you're not worried then what's up, because we were perfectly stable a minute ago, and Onyx is hardly likely to unfuse himself —e _specially_ when there's an opportunity to see Hematite."

Then her eyes flickered: their usual monochromatic white taking on a higher intensity glow for a moment, as a thought she'd had before reoccurred to her. A mischievous smile spread across her face, and with that the blond had missed his chance to offer a reply:

"Is that what's bothering you? Has the thought of seeing our beloved director got you all in a stir?"

"Oh. My. Stars. You're incredible… absolutely incredible…" he said with a slow shaking of his head. "Do we _actually_ stay fused all day, or do I just hallucinate that so I don't have to see you so often? Our synchronization must be some kind of miracle —or localized distortion of reality… I swear you're just— I can't even— oh my gem; if there was a kindergarten on every planet in the universe, they _still_ wouldn't be able to make someone as annoying as you. I give up; you are just so, _so_ beyond hope..."

There was a pause as he awaited her response to his somewhat negative assessment ('she brought it on herself,' he reflected, 'bringing up that Hematite thing at a time like this… as if!').

When she did reply, it was not with the sort of apologetic response that he'd been expecting.

Not at all…

"…So what do you think your fusion dance would be like?" she asked, replacing the truculent look on his face with one of total astonishment. "I reckon she'd have to lead, and she'd _definitely_ want to keep a firm grip on you: make sure you don't start with your own steps while she's doing her thing. Not that I think you'd object to doing her thing with her…"

He stared at her in disbelief, and she looked back into his sky blue eyes, neither saying a word. It occurred to him how ridiculous they must look, and how little had been accomplished by their thoroughly inane conversation.

He began to laugh, and immediately recognising the source of his amusement, she did the same.

When they'd regained some semblance of seriousness the blond smiled at her, letting her know that he was glad that she was there. But his expression faded quickly — replaced by a rare look of undisguised anxiousness.

"Glare?" she prompted him after some moments of silence.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you now?" she asked quietly.

"…What if Hematite doesn't like the idea?"

"Then we got a two hour break from reading development reports?"

"I'm serious, Sparse."

…

She paused, considering the best way forwards. There probably wasn't a Gem in the kindergarten that could navigate Glare's turbulent moods with as little trouble as she did (apart from maybe one of the other cubic zirconia, and they were all cliquey, gossipy and egotistical as well, so that didn't count), but that wasn't to say that dealing with him didn't require a great deal of care.

He was as temperamental as a Gem could be, and though he liked to make a grand spectacle of getting annoyed at her, most insults were soon forgotten in favour of the next thing to be dramatic about. This time however, his almost pleading tone and the way he did nothing to hide his uncertainty from her, meant that further joking would be **very** poorly received. As far as she could tell, his former owners were the only people he trusted more than her: in this situation, a perceived slight would not be easily forgiven.

…

"Okay." she acknowledged quietly.

She lifted her hands to her hair: one hand holding her cylindrical black clip steady, the other undoing its clasp; carefully she extracted the device from her hair, freeing her grey curls from their loose ponytail. She handed the obsidian-studded clip to him, shaking the last of her hair loose as he held the ornament up to the cushion cut gem in his forehead, into which it disappeared with a dim flash.

Then, without any explanation, she proceeded to sit on the floor:

"What are you doing?!" he complained as she lay on her back.

"Come on, lie down; you'll feel better. Trust me."

It was inappropriate (and undignified), but when it came to dealing with situations like this she always knew what to do. He lowered himself the floor near her, his head almost touching hers.

"Why wouldn't Hematite like the idea?" she asked once he was settled.

"Because we don't actually have any evidence… And because she doesn't like Onyx."

"Those aren't real reasons."

"Of course they are. How are they not?" he defended.

"Well the first one isn't true, and... actually the second one isn't true either."

"Those seed crystals —that's not evidence!"

"Okay they're not evidence _as_ _such_ ," she had to admit, "but they're useable; they show that Onyx has enough confidence in the theory to start serious work on it. Whether she likes him or not, you know she never ignores what he's working on."

"No, she doesn't." he agreed.

"And she's probably been waiting for something like this from him. We finish everything so much faster as Onyx, but have you noticed how she rarely gives us extra work to do in the spare time?"

"That's because if she starts giving us the amount of work he's capable of doing, and then we split for whatever reason, then there'll be too much for the two of us."

"You know she isn't that short-sighted: she'd take that into account if she really wanted him to do anything extra."

"…Yeah."

He couldn't argue with that: if Hematite was anything it wasn't short sighted — that much was apparent from the number and scope of the projects being carried out at the kindergarten in addition to Gem production…

"So with all that free time… she has to have been waiting for an idea or something, and now he's got one." she concluded.

They lay in silence as he contemplated what she'd said. After a few minutes he spoke again:

"She better make something out of it." he challenged.

"She will, ev—"

"She _has_ to! This is the most brilliant idea since automated product recovery!" he declared fiercely.

"Are you arguing with me, or yourself?"

"I'm not arguing! I just— I want her to take advantage of this."

"I know, Glare, me too. But relax: you think it's brilliant, Onyx thinks it's brilliant, and I… don't like to polish my own gem, but I'm pretty pleased to be a part of this." she said with a grin. "I would tell you if I had _any_ doubts about it though. And whether we're involved at the end or not, something like this doesn't just vanish."

"We _better_ be involved…" he responded threateningly. "My work is so much better than everyone else's, it's about time I got the recognition I deserve."

"You mean _our_ work?"

"Yeah, that's what I said." he responded dismissively.

Sparse sighed again.

Then there was another period of silence, broken by him a second time.

"But what if she does accept it? Do you think she'd keep us together?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they don't build kindergartens with pearl production in mind: do you think that we'd be sent to different sites… you know, for the different parts?" he questioned her nervously.

"…Do you know the ins and outs of pearl culturing: I mean the _really_ detailed stuff?"

"Well… no, but—"

"Neither do I, so we're about as useful as each other in that regard, just in different ways. And it's the same if you look at it from a kindergartening point of view. It wouldn't make sense to send us to different locations anyway."

"Why not?"

"Because this idea is entirely Onyx's."

"Yeah, and we form him, so we know all about it."

"Yes, we form him, but we were only in the background when he had the idea. He has a fuller understanding of it, he can develop it by himself; we'd have to discuss it to reach the same level, and even then he can combine what we know in a way we can't as individuals."

"So… you don't think we'll have to go to separate places?" he asked for a second time, just to make sure.

"No, Glare. No I don't."

"Good." he said decisively.

…

After about five minutes had elapsed and he hadn't said anything more, she assumed that he was alright again. This time it was her turn to interrupt the reasonably tranquil atmosphere they'd created on the floor.

"Won't you miss her though?" she asked in her most innocent voice.

"Wha— Oh don't start with that again."

She sat up, angling herself to be able to look into his eyes.

"Come on, you would, wouldn't you; even if it's just a little bit?" she urged, her eyes bright with mischief.

He rose from the floor, turning himself to sit opposite her.

"Where did you even get the idea that I've got this… burning passion for Hematite?" he asked with a hint of annoyance.

"You said it yourself: we form Onyx, and Onyx is _so_ into Hematite. I know he doesn't get it from me..."

"Well he doesn't get it from me either! That's just… urrrrrgh, no."

"No?"

"No! It's really convenient how you've _forgotten_ that he's capable of having independent ideas. Have you ever considered that _that_ might be one of them?"

"I have… But it's much more fun this way."

"Can we fuse now? I don't think I can take any more of this." he said as he rose to his feet, taking the opportunity to tidy his pixie cut.

She followed suit, also standing up.

"I know it's an upsetting thought, but don't worry: I'll take good care of you for her while we're gone." she said with dubious sincerity, laying a slender hand on his shoulder. "Okay?"

A light-pink flush quickly spread over his cheeks.

"Awww, is that for me? You're so adorable."

"Oh get off me!" he snapped, hastily brushing her hand away. "I don't need looking after by anyone, especially not _you_!" he proclaimed, even as his blush intensified.

"You're actually too cute: I can see why they call you—"

"DON'T. Even. Go there. There are only two people that are allowed to call me that: one of them doesn't, and the other isn't you."

"Is that list subject to change?"

"Fusion? Can we? _Now_ please?" he asked expectantly.

"Alright. Are you sure though? You've got no more concerns you want to run by me?"

He thought about it for a brief moment.

"No I don't. Thank you."

He smiled at her. She smiled back

"Okay then, ready when you are, Empress." she said as she held out a hand to him.

He grasped the offered hand, and her smile widened to a grin.

"See you on the other side."

He merely grinned in response.

…

The handshake was their own compact version of a fusion dance, originating from how impractical it could sometimes be to do something 'full sized'. They cycled through the carefully ordered grips, gestures and spins like it was nothing: the speed and precision of their movements giving the sequence a distinctly mechanical quality. Exactly as designed, it was a flawless example of Gems in physical synchronization — complete with the mental harmony to complement it, despite the façade of cold impersonality.

In a short space of time they were ready integrate: each placed a hand on the shoulder of the other, before quickly sliding that hand down the length of their partners arm, back into a handshake. She brought their interaction to an end with a single anticlockwise twirl towards him; the resulting contact allowed her to fall into him backwards, and the two Gems became a single, indistinct mass of light.

...


	2. Y'all Got Issues...

The gems of the fusing scientists didn't have to travel far to reach their new positions. Like the rest of the 'dance', the concluding step of their synchronization sequence had been devised to make things as fast and as spatially efficient as possible, which in reality meant that the gems were practically where they needed to be already. The cubic zirconia made a short trip upwards, darkening to a beautiful, glossy black colour as it went; at the same time the few 'snowflakes' that could be seen on the obsidian narrowed into thin parallel bands, which extended around the gem as it too moved to accommodate the shape of the fusion.

The shining agglomeration stretched towards the ceiling, fashioned into something infinitely more useful by the movement of the jewels within. Where two Gems had previously danced opposite each other, a single form now stood: a willowy figure, gently tapering to both its ends, with its black gems clearly visible against their shining background. The process was now complete, and as the white glow gradually dimmed the features of a fusion Gem were revealed.

…

With a grace that would've captivated anyone present to witness it, Onyx began to move his arms from their raised position above his head. Two sweeping, perfectly symmetrical arcs were formed as he lowered the slender limbs to his sides. Then, in the same deliberate way as he had the first, he lowered the second pair: luxuriating in the exquisite sensation of having physical form once again.

He took a slow look around the training grid, and grinned broadly as he regarded the space with his own eyes. He chuckled: he couldn't imagine that anyone but a permafusion (or a near-permafusion, as was the case with him) could truly appreciate the feeling of 'being back': the joy, the relief that one's components had decided to become more than themselves one more time, the additional qualities that everything seemed to take on as a new way of thinking was created out of those that had come before...

'Buht innyway…' he thought to himself. This was no time to be enthusing about the nature of fusion; there was business to attend to. It really was _marvellous_ to be back, but no good would come of lingering, not when the best parts of the day were yet to come.

With that in mind, Onyx began to saunter towards a pair of the sliding doors that led to other sections of the kindergarten.

…

Large-scale offworld conquest was something Yellow Diamond's forces excelled at, and in order to be victorious in campaigns conducted so far from Homeworld, resources had to be exceptionally well managed; tactics had to be ingenious; and data had to be effectively used and rapidly communicated across the Crystal System. The highest positions in the Imperial Army were therefore entrusted to those who had not only proved themselves on the battlefield, but had also shown that their minds were sharp enough to cope with the many considerations of extraplanetary warfare. But even the most talented Gems weren't expected to do _everything_ by themselves, and to aid them with their administrative duties the newly appointed general officers were each gifted a Gem: a shiny new unit from one of the service rank varieties.

When the time came to decide which type of Gem they wanted, most of the lucky few opted to get a pearl: always eager to please, unfazed by even the most mind-numbingly repetitive tasks, and loyal to the point of insanity, a pearl was a solid choice for anyone who sought an obedient, competent assistant. But while the unique way in which they were grown, and the conditioning that they underwent before sale produced pretty, hassle free units, Hematite had only briefly considered getting one. There was no doubt that they were fit for purpose, but she had always felt that they were… lacking something…

She'd wanted a Gem that would be very much their own person, despite belonging to her; someone that would have their own ideas about things, and give well-considered opinions when asked for their thoughts… someone that would keenly observe their surroundings and subtlety question all that they were told to do. She found the idea of someone blindly following her around for eternity —or being totally lost in the universe if she were to be shattered, incredibly disagreeable; thus, after carefully investigating each of the available varieties, she settled on one that was first and foremost well suited to her plans, but also appealed to her personal tastes.

It was always going to be harder work than owning a pearl, but she knew that owning a cubic zirconia would be far more rewarding — with their reputation for being both curious and fiercely competitive — and that the opportunities that serving her would provide would not be wasted on them.

And so, after a surprisingly easy selection session, Hematite had acquired Pristine…

...

Slender, pastel-red fingers danced aggressively over the virtual keyboard beneath them, pausing every so often while the Gem that they belonged to looked up information, or fired off a message with the violent stab of a key.

A wicked smile crept across Pristine's face as she wove her latest masterpiece: Pink Fluorite had made one too many of her pointless requests for the services of batch 612, and in her very particular way, Hematite had instructed her to give the infuriatingly persistent scientist a "…decisive answer." Well… her reply was going to be decisive alright, and with total freedom to explain why the human settlement near (the meticulously well-hidden) Facet 8 did **not** constitute "an immediate and severe threat…", it was very unlikely that Pink Fluorite would be asking again until it was _actually_ necessary to do so…

But even venting her anger on some paranoid scientist wasn't enough to put her in a good mood. A frown returned to her face — one of irritation this time, replacing the one of concentration that she had been sporting earlier — as she remembered _why_ she was berating Pink Fluorite so severely today…

A glance at the clock on one of her screens revealed that her least favourite people were due to arrive in seven minutes — long enough for a short break to tighten her bun. Carefully she extracted the two wooden spikes from the coil behind her head, permitting the cascade of sleek black hair to drape over her back. She collected the inky tresses together and rewound the complex knot — tidying her appearance by a degree imperceptible to the uninitiated. Order now restored she resumed typing her message, attacking the task with renewed vigour.

Minutes later, a little graphic of the room adjacent to her office popped up in the corner of Pristine's main screen, and almost instantaneously her eyes flicked towards it. The small line indicating the door opposite her was highlighted in blue, and when she looked towards the door itself a blue light similarly blinked on the display over it. She saved her work as the portal slid open, and moved to inform Hematite when she saw who it was.

…

There were so many things for her to despise about their fusion that sometimes Pristine found it hard to decide which vexed her most. Seeing him standing there however, was enough to convince her (at least for the moment) that it was his appearance.

Like ninety percent of the kindergarten's personnel, Beryl and the obsidian were expected to project a variant of the standard uniform, but while they were fused they seemed to think that the rules somehow stopped applying to them. Unlike everyone else's, Onyx's form-fitting jumpsuit was entirely black — save for the yellow diamond in the centre of the chest; but more noticeably the whole garment was lace, which really irritated her: nobody else was permitted to have that texture in their uniform, she couldn't understand why Hematite allowed it… Another thing she took issue with was the revealing opening on the side of his jumpsuit. The obsidian's gem — a gently sloping black pyramid — was located on the left of her body, sitting neatly between her midriff and her back; its position meant that a cut-out there was justifiable, but the fusion took it to indecent levels: the diamond-shaped opening showed unnecessarily large amounts of skin at the side, front and back, _and_ showed off a portion of his hip as well!

But what affected her most was how much of Beryl was visible in their fusion… Though Onyx's hair was a curly, platinum blond, he still wore it in the same pixie style; and while he'd received his eyes (for the most part) from the obsidian, the rest of his face was essentially a light-grey copy of Beryl's own delicate facial features.

Every time Pristine had to interact with the fusion she felt as though she was being mocked for her loss: like gemetics was making a conscious effort to spite her…

…

The doors to the long, elliptical room hissed quietly as they slid apart. On stepping into the space, the first thing that Onyx noticed was Pristine, and from the way her head tilted upwards briefly it was clear that she'd noticed him too. She sat behind the central pane of the row of large windows which made up the only flat wall in the room, and the fact that she was visible almost certainly meant that he was supposed to talk to her before he went to see Hematite.

He swept casually over the polished black floor, through the middle of the two lines of fancy metal chairs that stretched along the length of the (almost) oval-shaped room, towards Pristine's office.

…

"Good morning, mistress." Pristine said politely when her call was answered, "Onyx is here now, shall I send him up?" she asked rather hopefully.

"No, not yet. I'll finish reading this analysis, and call you when I'm ready to receive him." Hematite replied.

Pristine resisted the urge to smile: even through the speakers her mistress sounded powerful. She found her deep, smooth voice comforting; it was a sound that she could listen to all day… Then, a pang of dismay shot through her as she realised that the fusion would be staying longer than usual. She wanted to protest, but knew that on this occasion it was best to just accept her orders.

"Yes, mistress. I'll tell him to wait." she confirmed.

"I know that he can be extremely trying sometimes —and how much it hurts you to see him, but you're doing very well, Pristine. If he starts to get to you then pause, and consider which course of action has the best outcome in the long term." Hematite advised in a softer tone.

Pristine felt a little better after she'd said that, and as ever, was silently grateful for her mistress's deep understanding of her.

"Thank you, mistress. And yes, I'll keep that in mind."

Finished with her for now, Hematite nodded sagely and disappeared from the screen.

The moment her call had ended, Pristine turned to Onyx. Before she could even open her mouth, he spoke:

"Oh hey there, Pristine." he said in a neutral, open-ended manner.

For a couple of long seconds she glared into his strange, luminescent eyes, unamused at the pre-emptive interruption. He'd barely said anything and she was already sick of him…

"I've already called to tell her that you've arrived, so go and sit down until she tells me to send you up." she said brusquely, totally ignoring his greeting.

…

He was going to have to do something about her obvious issues with him.

If Hematite wasn't ready for their meeting yet then now was the perfect time to finally engage Pristine in conversation. With a smirk he proceeded to get things started.

"Aind it's good to see you too." he replied jovially. "I notice tahm's done nothin' to improve your people skills..."

Pristine debated briefly whether she should just black the glass out and wait for Hematite's call, but they were practically _asking_ her for a fight… Instead she slid her finger up a panel to her right, and stood up to give the fusion a piece of her mind.

"Hah!" she exclaimed as the barrier between them rose out of sight. "What would you lowlifes know about people skills? And why would I even _bother_ when there's no one around except us? Swapping pleasantries with you two would be a waste of my time."

"Oh Pristine, you poor thing." Onyx cooed with mock concern. "First your manners, aind now you've forgotten howta count... Buht don't you worry about a thing: we got loadsa smart people around; we can fahndya a tutor, get you back to your old self in no tahm. You're in the best place to get the help you need, okay?"

"There's me, there's you, and there's the obsidian. That's three." Pristine snapped irritably, "Even if you two choose to slink around the place as _this_." She spat the last word out, gesturing in Onyx's general direction.

"Slink…" Onyx repeated with a thoughtful grin, "Whut an interesting wayta descrahb it. Y'all bin payin' maybe a bit too much attinshun to the way I walk?"

"Don't flatter yourselves: you'd have to be blind not to notice the way you flaunt this freakish assortment around the place; look at what you're wearing, even! If we were back on Homeworld people would think you're a stimulation dancer."

"Aind they'd pay gooooood money to get up close and pers'nal with these lahns and curves." continued Onyx, sliding his hands down his body and rolling his hips seductively. He was enjoying this game…

"Only a pervert would pay for that with someone like you." she countered.

"At least they'd be payin'. All they'd have to do is get in Hematite's good graces, and they could probly have _you_ for free."

With astonishing speed, Pristine's arms shot over the desk and she grabbed Onyx firmly by the straps of his jumpsuit. The fact that she was about a foot and a half shorter than him did absolutely nothing to discourage her from wrenching him forwards, suddenly bringing their faces a lot closer together.

"Listen, you twisted little fragments of glass! _You_ might—"

She stopped herself.

There was nothing that she wanted more than to verbally tear him apart, but she was supposed to be in control of her emotions, and already she was dangerously close to losing that control. This was exactly what Hematite had warned her about; this was a test of her discipline: giving into her anger now would be a huge step backwards — she'd only end up disappointing her mistress _and_ herself.

But they were so smug! — wrapped up in their fusion like that, acting like they owned the place because Hematite _allowed_ them to exist that way…

'It could be worth it…' she thought, the satisfaction that she'd get from giving them even a tiny fraction of what they deserved.

...

Onyx had been a little surprised by Pristine's outburst, but chose to let her hold him like that. Moving or talking was only likely to make things worse, so he decided to just enjoy the close-up view of her face that she was treating him to. Her dark green eyes bored into him with incredible, hateful intensity, and as he looked into them he noticed that he could see the reflection of the light from his own eyes. It was then that a much brighter light source caught his attention, and he shifted his gaze to her forehead to get a better look at it.

The slight tilt of Onyx's head brought Pristine back to the real word. She realised that her body was rigid, and that she'd remained completely still since she'd grabbed him. The interruption also gave her chance to acknowledge the tingling sensation coming from her gem, which she deduced must be glowing.

With a reluctant shove she let go of him; there was nothing to be gained from _this_ confrontation…

She sat back down and closed her eyes to block out the world for a little while. She took a few deep, slow breaths to relax — telling herself that she was calm, and that she could easily handle a couple of nuisances like the ones in front of her. When she felt better she opened her eyes again and scowled immediately, disappointed (though not surprised) that they were still there.

"For a moment back there I was _sure_ we were gonna have a repeat of the first tahm…" Onyx commented.

"That was nothing: you keep going and it'll be more than a slap you'll have to worry about…" she threatened quietly.

He remembered Hematite mentioning her desire to guide Pristine through weapon summoning at some point, if that had already happened (which was likely, considering how well their lessons must be going) then provoking her further was a bad idea.

"I'm sorry, Pristine." he said sincerely. "I was just kidding earlier. There wasn't any ill will in it."

" _Whatever_." she uttered dismissively, "And are you deaf, or just stupid? I told you she'd call when she's ready to see you, so what are you still doing over here?"

"I'm just trying to have a conversation with you… understand you a little better and all. Because _me_ and you, we've never really spoken to each other before —not about innything that matters."

"So it's stupidity then. I can't say much for _her_ , but I thought that _you_ at least were smart enough to understand that I don't want to talk to either of you, **_Beryl_**. And you must think I'm some kind of idiot: I know… I know how it works, okay! You can pretend you're a new person for the next thousand years —acting like we don't already know each other. But I know you're in there, you can't fool me… You're just two people stuck together in a single, degenerate body."

"You _really_ hate fusions, don't you?" said a mildly amused Onyx. It was more of a statement than a question.

"…I don't _hate_ fusions…" Pristine slowly began, "Just as long as people stick to their own varieties —or if they _have_ to mix, then they should do what they were formed for and separate when they're done. No, _you're_ what I hate; specifically you; right to the core of my gem."

Onyx remained silent as he looked at Pristine with newfound curiosity. She was intriguing, in her own misguided way.

"Well say something then!" she forcefully prompted him.

"You hate me… Why?"

" _Why_?" she echoed in complete surprise: unsure for a second whether she'd heard him correctly. "What do you mean, 'why'!? Is that supposed to be funny!?" she demanded with an angry flush. She knew that her gem had started glowing again, but she didn't care: it would be just as much his— their fault if they ended up fighting.

"Hey, calm down! I'm not playin'!" Onyx exclaimed, slightly unsettled by how strongly she seemed to believe he was her enemy. "I just— I know what happened, buht cain't you get over the fact that that wusn't _me_? I _pers'nally_ didn't do innything to you."

…

Pristine hesitated. This wasn't what she'd expected: what the fusion was saying and the way he was saying it, his tone… it made her question what to believe. He sounded so genuine, so certain that he hadn't been a part of their falling out… maybe she didn't understand fusion as well as she thought, maybe Onyx really _was_ a separate entity from Beryl or 'Sparse'… Perhaps that was—

'No.' she decided. 'I _am_ right.'

She knew Beryl: she'd met him first, and had got to know him long before the obsidian had started calling him Glare… She knew how he argued, and it wasn't like this. The obsidian must be doing most of the talking today, trying to soften her opinion of them with that relaxed and friendly tone of hers.

She wasn't falling for it.

" _You_ abandoned me, Beryl. She got to you, and you forgot what we are, and then you abandoned me — _discarded_ me, like so much slag! Do you have _any_ idea how that makes me feel!? And then on top of that you become this **_fusion_** with her and—!"

"Waitwaitwait, so you're tellin' me you hate me because you're jealous of them?" he asked her with a sly grin. He really should've seen it coming, but hearing Pristine say it was much more interesting.

"I'm not jealous!" Pristine lied, even as she felt her cheeks warming. "What an idiotic thing to say!"

She was jealous, but **nobody** — except Hematite — was ever going to have the satisfaction of knowing that, _especially_ not the two of them. But jealousy wasn't the only thing on her mind, and she smirked in preparation for a more biting response.

"I'm disappointed and astonished, Beryl. You and I are grade fives: lesser cubic zirconia would risk shattering for an opportunity to be like us, and most people would shatter someone else to own us... Gems of our class are supposed to associate with diamonds, and people who actually matter back home... not stupidly named obsidian nobodies."

The corner of Onyx's mouth twitched as he suppressed a grin (which luckily for him, Pristine was far too busy to notice). He found his predecessor's irreverence to constructing a name most admirable: as a name ' _Curiously Unspherulitic Snowflake Obsidian of Low Triangular Pyramid, of the House of Obsidian, of a Volcano Where — Ironically — Snow Doesn't Actually Fall, Post-Incubation Crystallographer (First Class), Gemeticist (Second Class)_ ' was unique among Gems, and had been deemed 'not offensive' by the Registry, but that didn't prevent it from raising a few eyebrows wherever it had to be given.

"Even the top-spec pearls know who we're supposed mix with, and they don't know anything!" Pristine went on. "Honestly, you're an insult to our variety, Beryl. And a waste of your freedom."

A grin played across his lips once again and slowly, Onyx began to shake his head.

"What are you smiling at?" she snapped.

"It's just pretty ironic how you belong to Hematite, but you're still the most conceited, backward-looking Gem I've had the pleasure of meeting in person. I knew you were bad news, everything insahd me was sayin' 'Onyx, just stay away from her…' But I like to discover things for myself; well, now I fahnally have, aind I'm _preeety_ sure I know why you ended up getting ditched. Buht then again… you're not even whut, two hundred and fifty yet? There's still plenty of tahm for—"

Pristine's head suddenly turned away from him, towards the largest screen on her desk. With some hesitation she reached forward to touch one of the glowing panels on the flat surface.

"Hello, mistress." she said cheerfully.

If he hadn't been so amazed by her complete change in demeanour, Onyx would've burst out laughing. He had to admit that he was very impressed by her act though, it was impossible to tell that they'd been talking at all.

"…Hello, Pristine." Hematite replied warily. Now that the glass had been lowered he could hear the director as she spoke: something in her tone told him that she wasn't convinced by her Gem's greeting…

"I'll take Onyx off your hands now, please send him to my office." she finished.

"Yes mistress." Pristine said.

"And tell him not to delay."

"Yes mistress, I'll make sure that he understands."

Pristine turned back to Onyx, signalling that her conversation had ended.

"You heard her, she wants you _now_. So why don't you do everyone a favour and get lost." she spat icily.

He regarded her for a short while longer, and she simply glared back at him: her narrowed eyes conveying nothing but malice. "…Alright, Pristine." he said with a shrug. "Uhntil next tahm."

He turned to the door on the right, one of the doors at the either end of the oval's long axis. Less than ten steps towards the main event he heard a voice behind him.

"Beryl!" Pristine called to him, leaning on her desk to look out of her window.

He stopped, cocking his head to the left to show that he was listening.

"If you want to talk properly, come back unfused."

A wide grin of triumph spread over his face. He hadn't made as much progress with Pristine as he'd hoped to, but he was a busy Gem, and he thought he'd made a very respectable effort in the time he'd had available. At the very least he'd managed something that would've been a lot more difficult for his components as individuals, and he thanked himself twice for making their lives that little bit easier.

It was very rare that he split himself willingly, but Glare could only build on the gains he'd made today if he was around to talk to Pristine in person.

"I'm sure I can arrange somethin'." Onyx called back to her.

He started towards the door again; Hematite was waiting…


	3. The Emperor and the Iron Lady

Hematite sighed quietly, realising that she would need to talk to Pristine again once she'd heard Onyx's proposal: her cubic zirconia would almost certainly need placating after whatever exchange had just taken place, and depending on how far the irreverent fusion felt like pushing her today, so might she. But irrespective of how irritating Onyx could be sometimes she still found it unfortunate that the three Gems had yet to resolve their dispute, because as individuals she was fond of them all, and Glare and Pristine had got on so well before...

She didn't usually care much for prying into the relationships of her personnel — it wasn't really necessary unless those relationships were impacting on their work, or she suspected that they'd been forged for… _subversive_ purposes — but being responsible for Pristine made whatever happened to her (and anyone she interacted with) a matter of personal concern, which made this falling out a matter of personal concern. More subtly, she felt that some intervention (nothing too intrusive, of course) was required of her in this instance, because it was on her instruction that the two scientists had started working together in the first place.

With the tap of a few virtual keys she locked her computer, before rising from her seat at an exquisitely decorated metallic desk. Savouring the precious few moments of calm before Onyx's arrival, she strolled through the space behind the desk, to the end of her office that she'd dedicated to relaxation. While she waited for the fusion she looked through the impossibly wide, sweeping pane of glass that separated her office from the chamber next to it, and allowed her mind to wander...

…

There were a number of reasons that a Gem might want to be rid of their slave: maybe they were getting a new one, maybe their current model had failed them on too many occasions, maybe their name had been brought into disrepute by something that the slave had done, or perhaps their Gem was just a _little_ too self-assertive for their liking… Whatever the case, to own a service-type Gem of any grade was either a positional benefit or an expensive luxury, so while said Gem might no longer be of any use to whomever they belonged, they were still an object of value: a fact which the manufacturers took advantage of with trade-in schemes, and the more enterprising individuals had built immensely popular pre-owned goods businesses around.

But if by some misfortune no buyer could be found for an unwanted Gem, or their owner simply couldn't be bothered with the tedium of resale, then the slave would find themself embarking on the adventure of being free (as only the most important Gems were permitted to shatter their underlings, and the penalties for illegally breaking another's gem were rather severe): quite unceremoniously they would be taken by their owner to the nearest registry, asked to choose a name for themself and once the legal links had been severed, thrust — alone — into their uncertain future. Because these Gems were freed solely to make them someone else's problem, nothing was ever done to prepare them for their new life: they were often very malleable by nature, still deeply distressed at being abandoned, and had probably never needed to use their initiative before — a combination of attributes which could make the Crystal System a very dangerous place. Many of the newly liberated would wander aimlessly until they conceived a new purpose for themselves — a process that could take decades if they weren't picked up by somebody before then; either that, or they would voluntarily seek out someone who would tell them what to do, and there was no shortage of people (both benevolent and unscrupulous) that were more than happy to make the lost Gems feel needed again...

However, though it was incredibly rare, it was possible to find an owner who saw their acquisition as more than just another means to effect their will; they recognised that the individual whom had come into their possession was as much a person as any other Gem, and as such deserved more than an existence dedicated to carrying out menial tasks for someone else. When one of these owners made the decision to free a Gem, they did it entirely for the benefit _of_ that Gem — and so in contrast to their less altruistic peers, they deemed it essential to do anything they possibly could to ensure that their charge would be alright when they eventually ventured out into the universe.

It followed that the Gems freed by these unconventional few were just as unconventional themselves: the unique combination of the ideas that had been instilled in them just after manufacture, the mannerisms and attitudes that they'd acquired from their owners, and the knowledge they'd been encouraged to gain independently, made the former slaves a notable (if tiny) group — with members as varied as the histories behind them…

Hematite had always favoured variety. Deviating from established practices was something that came naturally to her, so it was no surprise that she'd been interested immediately on discovering there was a freed Gem working in one of labs she'd decided to 'borrow' people from. _Cubic Zirconia of Cushion Cut, of the House of Beryl, of Briolette City (Goshenite Quarter), Gemeticist (First Class), Seed Crystal Mineralogist (Second Class), Superior Crystal Crown Ziro [model number - CR012422] [unit code - 4050-030-4: cushion 9,9,7: colour 0,0,0: grade 5/5]_ (or 'Glare', as he'd been nicknamed) had clearly wanted to send a number of messages when he'd chosen his name — most obviously his suitability for technical work in a kindergarten, despite being a cubic zirconia — and those messages had not gone unnoticed by Hematite who, satisfied that he had the necessary skills for the job, had decided to choose him over the many Gems that had been _made_ for it.

As always her vision had yielded results, Glare was everything she'd expected and more: he did everything with the elegance and attention to detail that made high-end slaves so desirable (though he no longer belonged to that group); he was innovative, driven, authoritative, willing to adapt, ambitious… and interested in _progressing_ the field of gemetics, as opposed to just applying it in the same ways it always had been. She could see why Pristine liked him so much…

But one of her greatest skills had always been her ability to draw the best out of those around her, and although there had been absolutely nothing wrong with Glare's work, she'd sensed that there was some improvement that could be made.

And that was where Sparse came in.

Gems of the obsidian variety were renowned for the infectious, but at the same time baffling degree of calm with which they tended to conduct themselves, and for the importance with which they regarded self-improvement (a journey that seemed never to end, regardless of what age they reached). For the snowflake subgroup in particular, that near-limitless serenity came from deep meditation and long periods of introspection — activities that they felt were well worth engaging in. Once they achieved a certain level of maturity — or perhaps it was inner-peace — they appeared to feel some compulsion to share what they'd gained with others, commonly becoming therapists, counsellors or something similar.

Sparse possessed many of her kind's typical qualities, and while they gave her an aptitude for certain roles it was evident to Hematite that her real passion had always been for artificially created Gems: she'd known it as she read the speckled Gem's application for a place at Earth's first kindergarten, and it had continued to manifest itself in the quality of her work — which was without exception, very, very high.

Two of her most promising staff, two varieties, two approaches to everything… naturally formed and specially made, black and white… different, in so many respects...

And that was exactly what had given her the idea of bringing them together.

It wasn't that either of them was deficient in anything that mattered — their effectiveness on their own was undeniable; no, their partnership had been an experiment in optimization: to see if some of the idiosyncrasies that made each of them so good at what they did, that contributed to who they were, might have a positive influence on the other — making both of them even more productive as a result:

Where Glare saw sharing his best ideas as the best way to have them stolen, Sparse would see an opportunity to get everyone involved, to make it easier to turn them into something; and in allowing more people to work on what he'd started, Glare foresaw nothing but incompetence and setbacks, while Sparse put her full trust in others, focusing instead on the time that would be saved, the solutions that might be otherwise unthought-of, and invaluable lessons that would be learned _if_ there were to be a major failure.

Sparse was of the opinion that if it (whatever _it_ happened to be) needed to get done, and the resources were there to get it done, then it would be: to stress about how or when that happened wasn't something that seemed to occur to her — on the other hand Glare was adamant that everything should have a detailed plan _and_ backup plan as soon as possible, and became quite agitated if his colleagues lacked the same urgency. Following her optimism to its natural conclusion, Sparse's way of organising things had to be able to cope with frequent and substantial changes, and was therefore totally incomprehensible to anyone that had to work with her; Glare was the exact opposite: to him, logical organisation and presentation were almost as important as the task itself, and on more than one occasion he had 'persuaded' everyone around him to follow his (perhaps overcomplicated) way of doing things.

A scientist herself, Hematite often had ideas that needed to be researched before they could be useful, and as the director of the facility it had been easy for her to get Glare and Sparse deployed on a relatively straightforward project. The phenomenon was a time-consuming one to study though (precisely the reason she'd chosen it), and as the months went by the complementary nature of their personalities revealed itself, exactly as she'd hoped it would.

For all their differences they had grown into a remarkable team: their productivity had increased substantially, and even after that particular project had ended they still found reasons to work together. Then, only a short time later, they had surprised _everyone_ by forming Onyx (Hematite had felt… proud, when the pair had asked her for a fusion permit, and she'd actually laughed when Glare unconvincingly explained that it was "…strictly for convenience…"), who had taken things to a whole new level…

She permitted herself a wry grin.

There was something grimly amusing about the fact that fusion was so widely used by the enemy and yet, despite its blatant usefulness, Homeworld's own forces were still so reluctant to creatively employ it. It was as though the only general who _really_ understood the power of combination as well as she did, was Rose Quartz, and until the Crystal System at large stopped using fusions exclusively as war machines, then needless defeats **were** going to happen.

But at least they'd had the sense to make an exception for Onyx, though she had guessed that they would: after all, she had recommende—

The quiet sound of stone sliding across stone interrupted Hematite's thoughts. Without unfolding her arms she turned away from the window — to face whoever was entering her office.

…

The platform that served as the fast-access elevator to Hematite's office came to a stop, and with what Onyx thought was unnecessary slowness, a heavy, rectangular section of the wall in front of him rose up and out of sight, gradually filling the small space he was in with warm light.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator he spotted Hematite standing near the window at the far end of the room — his eyes drawn to her lissom, dark-grey form like magnets. He smiled broadly as he moved further into the office, genuinely happy to see her and perfectly aware that he was staring… _admiring_ was a better word, he thought, but either was an easy thing to do when you noticed her understated beauty (which he certainly had, being able to look past her usually stern visage) and the deep-red bristles of hair that crowned her head, and saw her skin reflecting the light the way it was.

Once the Lieutenant General had been paid her visual respects he cast his eyes around the rest of the office, specifically the section of it opposite the window. Where there was once a single wall — smoothed out of the surrounding rock, and very simply decorated by a few wall-hangings of the sort you'd expect to find in a military leader's office (and also by the thick, metal, totally unmissable blast-door that was the room's main entrance) — some industrious person had excavated two new spaces: one slightly below the level of the main room and the other a floor directly above it. The two additions were connected by a staircase that ran along the back wall, then up and out of sight; from the angle he was at, Onyx couldn't see what was on the upper floor, but between what he could see of the lower space and the stylish glass and metal railing that marked the edge of a balcony, he judged that it must be rather lavish up there.

"So this place wusn't big enough for you before?" he asked Hematite with a grin, waving in the direction of the new spaces as he moved toward her.

"Good morning, Onyx." she replied tersely.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? Good morning, Lieutenant General. It's been so long since I had last had the pleasure of seein' your face, face-to-face. How've ya bin?"

"Busy as ever, thank you. And yourself?"

"Harmonious, for the most part." Onyx said as he sat down, following Hematite's lead: he perched cross-legged on a chair opposite hers, a low table taking up most of the space between them. "…Buht frustrated with the Authority for not doing more to put an end to this _awful_ rebellion" he lamented ironically, "—useful as it's been for research."

The corners of her mouth curled slightly as she flashed him a small, but sincere smile.

"If that's the case then maybe you should have a formal discussion about it with your superiors." she suggested leadingly.

"Nah, they wouldn't listen to me innyway, never do." he said, petulantly folding his arms. "But I'm sure they have their reasons…" he concluded after an exaggerated sigh.

"I'm sure you're right, Onyx…" she agreed, her tone suddenly a little sombre.

He could empathise with her: she put so much effort into running the place — a task that she'd been given _by_ the Authority — and did such a good job of it, but what went on at the kindergarten was only part of a whole, and most of the other elements of that whole just weren't functioning at the same level — like the Earth was of importance to Homeworld, but not _that_ much importance.

She was an inspiration to him though, and he would always have her to thank for his physical existence, so he did his best to brighten her mood whenever they met; it didn't always work, but what mattered was that he wasn't afraid to try (and he couldn't leave it to Pristine alone, she was about as much fun as a fractured gem).

And so, after a smile of his own to show that he was on her side, he returned to the matter of the space that had suddenly appeared in her office.

" _Soooo_ … now that you've _fahnally_ provided somewhere for us to hang out, are you gonna invite me up here more often?"

"As enjoyable as 'hanging out' with you more regularly sounds, I think our informal meetings are sufficient for the time being. Anything more would be a poor use of both of our time, not to mention inappropriate."

"Whut could _possibly_ be inappropriate about two upstanding Gems engagin' in some friendly conversation from tahm to tahm? Okay sure we'd— _they'd_ be alone, but they'd be in an office, and it's a proven fact that nothing interesting enough to be descrahbed as 'inappropriate' ever happened in an office..." he said innocently.

"Well until you convince everyone else of that… _fact_ , I can't start allowing you to come up here without a good reason—"

"But—"

" ** _Good_** reason. If I were to do that, the plant would soon be rife with rumours of indecorous behaviour and favouritism. That isn't going to happen." she declared firmly.

"It _is_ pretty easy to see why I'm your favourite though; people'd understand that part." he responded with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Aind for the record, you're my favourite as well."

"I don't do favourites, Onyx."

"Oh I know, I know; I'm just kidding. …Buht if you _did_ then I'd be on your list, right?"

She didn't say anything in response, she didn't have to: the minute change in her facial expression was enough for Onyx to realise that something bad was going to happen if he continued pursuing 'Hematite's list of favourite Gems'.

"I'm still kiddin', of course!" he hastily added, sighing in faux frustration as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Innyway, as for that indecorous behaviour you mentioned; we could always have Pristine act as a chaperone, if you're worried you cain't keep up with my impeccable conduct."

"You don't stop, do you?" Hematite challenged.

"Never," he answered after moment of thought, "I'm persistent, like my components."

She relaxed a little, satisfied with his answer, and with the way he'd replaced that wide, provocative grin with a trace of a smirk.

"I doubt Pristine would take very kindly to your idea, considering how you've upset her."

"I never upset innyone!" stated a defiant Onyx. Hematite raised an eyebrow in response.

"Whut, did she tell you that she's ' _upset_ '?"

"No, she didn't."

"Then you heard her runnin' her mouth, so you know it's all her fault if she's mad."

"Pristine's never been afraid to speak her mind, but she won't do it unless she feels she has good reason to."

"Hey it's not _my_ fault that she doesn't understand fusion! ...Okay maybe I did have a little somethin' to do with it, but you've gotta see where I was comin' from."

"I'm sure I would, had I been listening to your discussion, but I wasn't."

"Then how do you know she's upset?" he asked suspiciously.

"I know her voice, her tone. It doesn't take much for me to know when something's bothering her; she is _mine_ , after all." Hematite informed him, a definite note of pride creeping into her voice.

"I'm glad you see a positive in that… somewhere…" Onyx said churlishly. "But seriously, her attitude is uhglier than an undercooked quartz: you—"

"I suggest you think carefully about how you word whatever you're planning to say." Hematite advised.

"I… was… _going_ to say that uhmmm… maybe you should — perhaps — dedicate a few more lessons to showin' her there's more to know about people than whut they wrote to her gem at the factory."

The dark-grey Gem breathed a sigh.

"The thought has occurred to me before, on multiple occasions…" she confided to Onyx. "But I believe there are some things that she'll understand best if she discovers them on her own. I'm not saying I won't point her in the right direction when she needs it, but _experiencing_ people is far more valuable than my, or anybody else's lessons on them will ever be."

Onyx nodded in silent understanding. Normally he had something to say… at times like these, but he'd never owned a Gem himself, and he was slightly distracted by the debate going on his mind: was he more pleased that Hematite wasn't blaming him for Pristine's current ill humour, or that she was sharing her thoughts on personal matters with him? The situation resolved itself almost immediately, there not actually being a contest between the two suggestions when considered in the long-term: her openness was a rare and wonderful thing — a victory for him every time she showed that there were some feelings under that steely exterior.

She sighed again.

"I'll speak with her later: hopefully we can avoid a repeat of whatever happened between you. In the meantime can I ask you _not_ to avoid her? She's very young, and she still has a lot to learn; but she will, and I'd like you to play a part in teaching her, if you don't mind."

Her latest admission pleased him somewhat less than the first had done. It clearly showed, because she added:

"You know I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you could help. And ask yourself, would Glare's opinions have been so different from Pristine's, before his owners showed him the universe isn't so black and white?"

They both knew the answer to that question, and it made him frown. It wasn't her request that irritated him (though he had to admit, being verbally abused wasn't something he actually _enjoyed_ ) but the truth of what she was implying: the reminder that at some point, a part of him had been just as… ignorant, as Pristine, so opposed to everything that he stood for… was unwelcome, to say the least.

But Hematite had a point, Pristine _was_ relatively new (which he'd already taken into account, thank you very much) and Glare was proof that she wasn't hopeless, so if all he had do to make Hematite happy was talk to her, then he could oblige. Besides, he never avoided _anyone_ : that was like admitting defeat before the fight had even started.

On the rare occasion that there was a fight…

" _Weeeeeeeell_ alright then, I won't avoid her. But I'm not gonna be visiting either, unless she asks really nicely."

"Thank you, Onyx."

"Don't minshun it." he dismissed, not wishing to take that aspect of the conversation any further.

Suddenly he uncrossed his legs and lazily took to his feet. After a decent stretch (which Hematite patiently watched — with surprising focus, Onyx couldn't help noticing) he took a few steps towards the huge window that was the back edge of the office.

"Sit down, Onyx." Hematite called wearily.

"I'm comin' back, just stretchin' my... lehgs..." he trailed off, barely finishing the sentence as he saw what Hematite had been looking at earlier.

…

On the other side of the window was a wide, very deep, roughly cylindrical cavern. The last time Onyx had looked down into its depths he had seen a number of tunnels leading away from it at different heights, connected by a series of metal staircases and ledges that had been built into the wall. At the very bottom of the structure, injectors and other machines had been stored until they were needed, and it had been possible to make out the coloured figures of people moving about between them — using the place as a thoroughfare as they carried out their own tasks.

But that was quite a while ago…

The truly immense... _thing_ that now occupied the cavern (and the metal grate running along the cavern's edge just above it) prevented Onyx from seeing anything below about seven metres from the bottom of the window; what he _could_ see was a wide circle of sturdy looking machinery: it was a uniform black-grey colour, and he could tell that it was heavy; the depressions and elevations in it were cut so perfectly and in such a way that he suspected there was a another piece that fit into it. Or onto it...

Two thick, parallel rails passed across the cavern, starting from the part of the wall on the left of the window, directly over the machine circle, and off into a large tunnel to the right that was exactly as wide as the cavern itself. From the dimensions of the tunnel and position of the rails it was obvious that something _big_ was to be lowered onto the machine, which quickly made him realise that what he could see was a locking mechanism — and with the kindergarten being what it was, that big something was almost certainly a drill bit.

Onyx turned to Hematite:

"Now **_that_** , is a drill... I heard that they were buildin' some new equipment for us to play with, but this... this is somethin' else..."

"I don't know where you heard that, but what you see down there isn't for Facet Five personnel."

"Whuuuuut?! Why is it in your cave of wonders then?"

"It's here because this facility is the only one large enough and secure enough to house the fully assembled machine. Now please, sit down." she told him again, more forcefully this time.

Onyx could hear her growing impatience, so after one last look at the drill he returned to his seat.

"How deep are they planning on going with it? And for _whut_...?" he asked excitedly.

"You're not authorised to know the answer to either of those questions."

With a sweet smile he pressed the idea: "But you're going tell me innyway?"

"What, and make you a security risk? I don't think so."

"You're actually not gonna tell me?" he asked, mildly surprised.

"Of course I'm not: it was clear that the Authority didn't even want _me_ to know what it's for before they're ready to use it — only those who need to know its details are allowed to."

"Well if they didn't want people to take an interest in it then they should've thought up some boring explanation for it. You cain't just —they're not even tryin'. It's just sittin' there, it's like they want us to guess—". Abruptly he stopped talking and grinned widely at Hematite.

"Don't waste your time guessing, the only thing you'll get out of that is disappointment." she told him flatly.

"Come on, it'll be fun! And I know you _want_ to tell me, so if I guess then you don't have to break any rules."

"You're missing the point."

"No, I get the point, but —I get the point… You could cause some **_serious_** subsidence with a drill that big though…" offered the fusion casually, sensing defeat but hoping to learn _something_ from her reaction.

The Director held his gaze, betraying nothing. He smiled, impressed once again by how resolute she was.

…

Onyx was right but Hematite wasn't about to let him know it; and ground-collapses were only one of Project Doublepoint's aims anyway…

At its simplest, the machine on the other side of the window was a double-ended tunnel boring machine: at one end a specially-made conical drill would be secured (working with the same mode of action one would observe on an injector model drill bit), while the other end more closely resembled a slender pyramid (which instead of spinning would be heated to temperatures well above the surrounding rock, allowing the device to literally melt its way through the planet's crust, down into the mantle).

With a design that permitted swift manoeuvring through hard rock and magma alike, the machine was a unique and versatile asset — with applications ranging from the obvious tunnel construction, to large-scale troop transport, to drawing molten rock to the surface — and it was going to come as a very unwelcome surprise to Rose Quartz's forces when it eventually submerged (and resurfaced, though that would come a little later).

The best thing about it was that it was a prototype: for what, nobody except the Diamonds had any clue, but with planned 'dives' to the edge of the outer core it was safe to say that they had something awe-inspiring in mind...

More usefully to Facet Five, Hematite was already having ideas about what to do with that sort of technology…

…

"Fahn, you win." he said, finally accepting her decision not to tell him. "It's kind of ironic that you run this place, you know."

"Yes, I'm sure it is."

"Aren't you gonna ask me why?"

"...Why?"

"Well, the injectors suck the life outta the ground, and you suck the fun out of our conversations, aind I—"

"That's enough, thank you. If you're quite finished then I think it's time we began discussing what you came here for."

"And there I was, thinkin' that you didn't like talkin' about yourself…" he joked: his last for the time being. "But yeah, the suspense's reached its peak, hasn'it? Don't worry, you're gonna enjoy what I'm about to show you almost as much as I've enjoyed our meeting so far..."

Without further comment he raised a hand to his forehead, and the cushion cut stone embedded there flashed as he withdrew an object from its pocket dimension.

…


	4. Altered Core

Onyx quickly closed his fingers around the summoned article, a single corner of which protruded from between his light-grey digits. Very gently he laid it on the table between himself and the Director, and though Hematite saw that it was a container (its unremarkable surface suggested nothing else, being entirely featureless apart from a groove that split the matt black cuboid exactly in two) she made no attempt to open it: before today Onyx had described his newest project as "a surprise…", and she wasn't going to spoil it when he was so close to unveiling it.

The moment Onyx's upper left hand had set its cargo down on the table, his lower left hand rose to his gem and he repeated the same sequence of actions as before; thus, an identical second container came to sit next to the first, Hematite relaxed in her chair to convey her readiness, and on seeing that his audience was sitting comfortably — Onyx began his presentation.

"For many millennia now, the quartz has played a key role in the Imperial Army, and more recently in the war for this planet. It is the way it is for three obvious reasons: one, the average quartz is noticeably bigger than most other Gems — and with that comes the expected increase in raw physical power; two, a lot of the planets that we've colonized as a race are really rich in quartz, so the supply of everyone's favourite mineral isn't likely to run out anytahm soon; and three, as a group, their allegiance to Homeworld and its causes has always been absolute.

I say ' _has_ always been absolute', as in the past tinse, because that loyalty which has so defined the first order quartzes… is no longer a given —as this war is demonstrating. The problem y'all are havin' is that the Gems we kindergarteners put so much effort into making for you, keep leavin': which could be because you— well, others of your rank… and similar, treat 'em like product, and they feel like Rose Quartz would treat them better; or because they agree with what she's sayin'; or a bunch of other reasons. The important thing is that if they keep defecting at the rate they are now, the campaign here is going to get a lot more difficult… I'll be blunt; I think we might actually lose this one.

But it got me thinkin'. This sorry state of affairs could've been avoided if things were a little less… _oppressive_ , not just towards the quartzes, but towards people in general. Now I'm confident that change'll happen in tahm — after an incident like this people will start to realise their own power, and the way things are done will have to be altered or this'll happen more and more often. But that alteration will take a loooong tahm to take place, you know the Authority…" he explained quickly and dismissively. She had to suppress the smile his candid tone called for, and at how relaxed he was in her company. It wasn't something she experienced at all often…"In the meantahm," Onyx continued, "we need a solution, and the faster one can be found the better.

So I started looking for one. I started with the simplest question I could think of: 'how would you _make_ a quartz, or any other artificially made Gem, do what you them to do?' And the answer to that, really, is you cain't —not if you want a fully functional Gem. When they create flash programs to teach the new Gems the basics, it really is the basics that they're introducin' 'em to: they give 'em the simplest version of the idea they want them to understand so that their mahnds can expand on that idea in their own ways. And _why_ do they do it like that? Because the more controls and explicit instructions you add into a flash program, the less of all the good stuff you get: initiative, creativity, the capacity to apply what they've learned to new situations... Either that or they reject the program entirely, and then you just lost however many of your shiny new Gems. You want your soldiers to be totally obedient, but at the same time you don't want machines that you have to instruct on every tiny detail, because if you did then you would've just built those machines...

So then I looked to the obedience experts, the pearls, to see what it is about them that makes them so much more docile than even the other service rank species; because if you could somehow get your kindergarten-made Gems to develop that pearlish mahndset, then you'd have armies that'd obey your orders without question, **every** tahm. That's where the solution is, so my next question was 'how does one go about giving them that mahndset?'

Well I've already minshuned the problem with tryin' to flash program it, so it isn't with one of those —the pearls get the absolute minimum of flash learning innyway, because any idea worth imparting to a pearl is always given with those wave transmittin' pylons. And they work! The subtle, suggestive, long-term way the pearls are 'taught' as their gem is growin', is just so much more effective than writing that mentality straight to their gem. _Buht_ , we both know the wave technology they use on the growing pearls won't work in planetary crust conditions, and if you take the developing gemstone of the ground too early then it _stops_ developing.

And so I realised that the solution is actually _in_ the pearls themselves — in the way they're grown... Their physical makeup…

The cases in front of you contain a little somethin' that I've been collaboratin' with myself to create over these past few months. Please, open 'em up and take a look. Hold 'em, get a _feel_ of the future…" Onyx invited her, dramatically parting some imaginary curtain in front of him with his palms.

Hematite did smile now: how could she not, with Onyx grinning encouragingly at her like he was? For all he had said so far she still didn't know what was inside the cases, and although she knew that they weren't for her (as such) it still felt like he was giving her a gift: it was an exciting combination, and she allowed herself to fully enjoy the moment. Leaning forward she picked up both cases and brought them to her edge of the table; as she put one down to focus on opening the other, Onyx produced a pair of heavily darkened glasses from his forehead gem and held them out to her.

The sudden need for this particular type of eyewear brought a few guesses to Hematite's mind as to what was in the cases, but without some additional information she couldn't confirm any of them (and even if one of her predictions was correct she couldn't see how any of them would solve the problem he'd described). She took the glasses, hastily (but delicately) positioned them in front of her eyes, and went back to opening her— opening _the_ case. By feeling around the object she soon worked out that its two halves separated at the indentation, and with a gentle twisting motion she slowly drew the top away from the bottom.

It was an odd sensation, being surprised and yet... not surprised, at the same time:

"Seed crystals...?" she asked unsurely.

"Yep," Onyx confirmed with obvious pride, "but unlike any that have ever been made before."

From what she could see he was certainly right about that; in all her years (which were many, and rich with kindergartening experience) she had never seen a specimen like the one in front of her. The specifics depended on the species of Gem being grown, but seed crystals were typically angular, with very well defined corners and certain species-characteristic shapes, roughly a centimetre in length at their longest edge; the one in the case had noticeably rounded edges, at a glance did not possess any of the regular seed crystal geometries, and was over twice the size one would normally expect such a thing to be. The most striking thing about the new artefact however, was its glow: the brightness with which they shone made it impossible for most Gems to see a seed crystal's actual colour without special equipment, so when Hematite thought she could see white stripes patterning the stone's surface she naturally figured that it was an optical illusion, because there was no way its glow could be that dim.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Onyx warned playfully as she began removing the spectacles.

"Why not?" she responded cautiously, her hands freezing in place.

"They react to the presence of living gems. The closer they get to one the brighter they shine." he explained.

She extended her arm to its full length and sure enough, the glow diminished. Bearing his warning in mind she carefully lifted the glasses to get an unaltered view; her eyes had been telling the truth: the stone's natural radiance made it harder to see, but there were definitely bands of white circling a slightly darker background. Lowering the glasses back onto her nose for a moment she opened the other case, which contained a stone no less intriguing than the first: this one had no corners, it was a perfect ellipsoid, and the inky blackness of its smooth surface was only made more prominent by the points of white light that decorated it, in addition to the light it was emitting anyway. She decided not to take the glasses off after all and brought the case closer, before gently taking the seed crystal out for a closer inspection. Even with eye protection the stone became unbearably bright within a certain distance, but apart from that handling it revealed nothing else. After a brief feel of the striped seed crystal she put both back in their cases, resealed them and placed the glasses on the table with a quiet click.

"Are these seed crystals ready for injection?" she inquired.

"I wouldn't be showin' you if they weren't." replied Onyx with a grin.

"And if I were to inject them, how would that solve the defection problem you described?"

His grin widened.

"Injectin' these crystals is only half the story... See, in the same way that I've made some changes to the desahn of the crystals themselves, whut you get at the other end is gonna be different as well..." he told her cryptically.

"..."

"..."

"And what do you expect to get at the other end then?" Hematite asked impatiently.

"Discontinuous conversion-accretion formed, expanded seed crystal core-nacre exterior composite stone artificial Gems." he enunciated, positively beaming at her as she made sense of his description.

"…Hybrids?" she asked, scarcely able to believe what she was hearing.

"Exactly! By extracting the growin' gemstone from its matrix and puttin' it into a pearl-shell to finish developing there, I believe it's possible to create a Gem that's neither a pure pearl, nor a pure Gem of any other species. I call the project 'Altered Core', named for the Gems that it would create."

And for the longest moment, Hematite's only thought was:

"Of _course_..."

...

The concept was so simple, so obvious… and yet in all the millennia the since the mineral transmutation and pearl culturing processes had existed simultaneously, nobody had thought to combine them, because those that had the resources to do so were all considering things from the same perspective…

For thousands of years the Authority had sought to make the Gem race as formidable as possible, and they had decided that the best way to achieve their aim was by (forcefully) pushing each variety towards what they were best suited to. That idea was imposed even more rigorously on artificially produced Gems, and for the pearls it meant that they stood very little chance of doing anything other than being slaves. When the scientists created the first pearl they had marvelled at their own ingenuity: a new type of Gem, created from an organic life form. They'd run all sorts of tests on the new species, so as to ascertain their strengths and weaknesses, their physical and mental characteristics and supernatural properties — all to quantify their usefulness, and find where they best fit into the Empire of Gemkind.

But the pearls had been unfortunate in that their greatest natural attribute was versatility: there was a wide range of skills that a pearl could be taught, given enough time — their capacity to take in new things was second to none (a trait which extended to their gems, which could store more complex objects, more easily, and in far greater numbers than most other species); but while they had the potential to be great at many things there was no single area that they dominated in, and that put them at a real disadvantage…

The military saw no immediate use for the new members of the race as soldiers — the pearls weren't the weakest Gems, but they definitely weren't the strongest either; their toughness was nothing to take note of, and their powers (psammokinesis and low-level hydrokinesis) were rarely strong enough to justify a presence on the battlefield — or otherwise, and neither did the main industries; so when the novelty of their existence inevitably started to wear off, it was the small (as they were then) businesses that continued research into pearls and their applications… They quickly capitalized on the pearls tendency to accept instructions from those that took a prolonged interest in them, discovering a way to make the attribute far more pronounced — suddenly, subservience was the area that the pearls excelled in, and the market for fully customizable 'attendants' was created.

After pearl culturing became its own industry nobody was really interested in changing what worked: each company had its unique modifications to the basic pearl 'recipe', but with pearls being what they were, and what they now _for_ , there wasn't any need to make radical physical changes, so the only innovations that were made in pearl culturing focused on the minds and superficial appearances of the finished products.

Thus the thought of trying to combine a pearl with any other type of Gem was laughable: it was deemed even less than pointless to dilute a fine, kindergarten-made Gem with the gemetics of a servant, when there were other varieties with superior qualities that could be used instead. Well, it was _theorised_ that other varieties could be used…

But that had been a long time ago, and recent occurrences necessitated some kind of change to established ideas. If Onyx was leading where she now suspected he might be, this could be the beginning of those changes...

…

"And you're expecting that these hybrids could be made... more compliant than the average kindergarten-made Gem, because of their in-shell development stage?" Hematite asked.

"Correct once again, Director." Onyx said. He was happy that Hematite was finally hearing the idea, that there was now someone that could think about it with him, and possibly even add to it.

"To what extent do you think that effect might be observed in them? Considering that these Gems aren't pure pearls, and wouldn't be spending their... How would the total development time of one of these hybrids compare to the ground-time of a gemstone of the same species, and how would that time be divided between the ground and shell stages, roughly?"

He grinned. He'd expected an intense questioning from her and here it was. There was also something highly entertaining about knowing things Hematite didn't.

"...I ran a few hundred simulations into this —which was actually _really_ difficult, by the way: I had to write my own software, which also had to work with whut we're usin' already, before I could even start the seed crystal des— Ah..."

Hematite's face made it clear that she'd rather not hear about his hardships. But it was okay, he could tell her about the technical difficulties he'd had later.

"Well I'm just sayin'. You should look into getting some pearl experts down here, to expand our simulation database... Innyway, what I found is that there's a lot of freedom in the composition of a hybrid gemstone, though as you might expect it varies a little with the species used as the core… buht I predict that a fully functional unit could be anything from ten to eighty percent non-nacreous by volume. If you try to get above about eighty percent either the pearl-shells die, or the cores die; and below ten percent the hybrid might as well be a pure pearl.

I cain't say for sure, but I'd say the percentage of pearliness would be an accurate reflection of their compliance, when compared to your average pearl. That plus whatever they'd gain from any flash programs you decided to use later on, _plus_ however submissive that individual would've been anyway. Now, defining the time split between the ground and shell stages is complicated, it's a function of both the core's species and what percentage of its predicted ground-tahm has elapsed before it goes into the shell.

That's another interesting thing I noticed: _consistently_ , the fahnal volume of the hybrid gemstone was pretty much equal to the predicted fahnal volume of the core — aind that's regardless of how much of the ground-tahm had already passed. I mean, it seems obvious now... but it was— But innyway, the _very_ general trend is that compared to a gemstone left to self-facet in the ground, a hybrid gemstone with a core of that same species takes longer to finish growin' if it's more nacreous by volume, and finishes faster if it's mostly core by volume. I've got graphs on it if you wanna see for yourself."

"That won't be necessary just yet; I trust the accuracy of your observations." Hematite replied with a faint smile, which Onyx returned. "But how do you imagine the unfaceted cores would reach the shells intact?"

"That's _easy_." he dismissed. " _I_ would pull the whole matrix outta the ground with the gemstone still growing on it, as per usual. As long as the warp pads work and you're not tahmwastin' between the kindergarten and the pearl factory, then there should be enough residual energy in the matrix to keep the core alive while you transport it, extract it, and then put it in the shell. And as the size of the cores you need decreases, the _number_ of cores you can grow in the same amount of space increases —you could even have 'em all on the same matrix, if the specifics are right. They're not gonna be growin' for their full ground-tahm, so you won't have to worry about there bein'; enough energy available in the distant future."

For a few seconds after he had spoken, Hematite's gaze shifted away from him and a faraway look came over her face. Onyx waited quietly for the Lieutenant General's pondering to finish; he was trying to guess her next words exactly when her head turned back to him and she spoke, quietly and clearly:

"This is _very_ clever, Onyx… It's novel, and the possibilities it raises are extremely exciting, and if it were up to me I'd have you working practically on this as soon as possible…" Then her tone became much more serious, the word 'aggressive' sprang to his momentarily disconcerted mind. "But it isn't up to me, and what's clever isn't always what the Authority wants. How are you going to convince them that these hybrids aren't simply an inadequate average of the species they were made from? That their real value isn't in how they compare to other types of Gem, but in what they — uniquely — can offer our race?" she challenged.

The Authority wasn't sympathetic, it was a machine — one that demanded results from its endeavours; the questions she'd asked were legitimate, and Onyx's ability to answer them would dictate how far his idea was going to go. This was practice (mainly): she was giving him with an opportunity to sharpen his arguments, but she also wanted to hear his most compelling points, which she was sure he was saving until last.

…

The light-blue glow of Onyx's eyes brightened, and the corners of his mouth upturned to form a wicked grin. Gracefully, the fusion uncrossed his legs and slid himself towards the edge of the seat, bringing him a little closer to the Director.

He knew that she knew there was more to come, and if after he gave it to her she _still_ didn't think the project would satisfy the Authority, nothing would.

It was time for him to show her the beauty of Altered Core.

"For these Gems to exist at all, and be able to do everything 'pure' Gems are capable of, then their gems will need to have finished growing and ignited at the end of the second development stage —inside the pearl-shell. For that ignition to take place the gem has to contain a complete consciousness: immature, yes — but total, whole, its full self. If you extract an unfaceted gemstone from its matrix and leave it alone, it'll never finish growing —because it's dead... which means it won't ever ignite, which means that for a _hybrid_ gemstone to ignite, a proportion of the consciousness inside must exist within both parts of the gem — in the nacreous and non-nacreous layers. All of which can only mean one thing... There are uninterrupted transfers of information across the two layers. As you've probly assumed already, with them being hybrids, the same thing happens with the properties associated with the core and with the nacreous layer, but the extent to which the simulations show it happening... **that's** where the hybrid's greatest gift lies...

For now I'm calling these transfers the crossover effect, or just 'crossover' for short, and the effect is so strong that it's like the pearly layer is... working, almost, to absorb the properties of the core, and not just gaining them as a consequence of being near it. So for instance in a more pearl-like hybrid, you could have a hybrid stone with a garnet core, that looks and behaves like a pearl's usually would, but it can also withstand heat like a pure garnets'd be able to; and say you used a magnetite core instead —if it's been naturally magnetahsed, then instead of observing the core's magnetism at a weaker level _through_ the nacreous layer, the nacreous layer exhibits magnetism of its own! And the core actually benefits from crossover as well: the simulations show that the presence of the nacreous layer can remove even the largest imperfections from the core, if it's a large enough percentage of the gem's composition. So in the event that the deposits where you are are of an unsatisfactory quality, it'd be smarter to produce hybrids with them over say, your standard quartzes — because you know the hybrids'll come out with zero defects every tahm.

But I didn't leave it there. I figured that if the crossover effect can correct imperfections in the core, then it could potintially be used to stabilise gemstones that are growing from multi-species seed crystals. Imagine you had a solid citrine base, but you wanted to balance it nicely with some sapphire, add a little carnelian to give it some edge, and maybe some diamond — just because we're showing off. Normally that'd be impossible: unless you're really, _really_ lucky then that seed crystal is incompatible in _any_ known matrix, period, forget about those four specifically. By the tahm you even get a quarter way through the ground-tahm for it it would've burned out and left you with this useless, vitreous cavity in the ground that you aren't gonna get any more Gems out of. But if you took that developing gemstone out of the matrix and put it into a pearl-shell, then the crossover effect would mean you produce a Gem with all the characteristics that you wanted —and because that Gem would be a stable combination of the four original species, any seed crystals then derahved from its gemstone would be compatible in any deposits of those four original species. Not only that, but any useful or supernatural traits that the hybrid Gem possessed would probably be present in Gems grown from their seed crystals, regardless of whether those traits are usually seen in a particular species or not.

I need more powerful computers to simulate that kahnda of thing though... That's all I really have for now, simulations, and these," he said, gesturing towards the seed crystal cases, "which I'm positive can be used to grow hybrids —with the correct equipment, and the right people involved…

So whut do you think, Director? Is there enough 'value for the race' for you now?" he taunted, smiling triumphantly.

She smiled back, broadly and proudly:

"Yes, Onyx. I believe there is."

…

Gem-gem hybridization had so far proved to be too much for the Empire's scientists, whose attempts at it had — quite logically — always focused on the movement of matter within the ground. Moving developing gemstones between mineral deposits for any reason was difficult in itself, but it was the problem of incompatibility that caused the most frustration: once a gemstone of a certain species began developing from its seed crystal, moving that stone to a deposit of a different species deprived it of the substrate rock it was designed to grow from, terminating its growth and killing the growing Gem in the process.

It now appeared that Onyx had found a way around the incompatibility problem. There was even the possibility that his theory would make that method of hybridization irrelevant altogether, such were its predicted effects… The implications for both Gem production and warfare were huge: ideas were already germinating in her mind, certain stratagems that were previously unfeasible, could potentially be employed with ease now.

And without him… without Glare and Sparse, considered by most to have been 'misplaced', it may never have been realised… Those ranking above her would be unable to ignore the fact that a fusion had conceived this: **_finally_** , her vision might be shared by others, and when that happened…

The possibilities were limitless…

…

"Your graphs, notes and simulations: I'd like you to put them into a full report that I can give to my superiors." Hematite said.

"Already taken care of." Onyx replied smugly. "I _knew_ you were gonna say that, so I went ahead and put everything together to save tahm."

"Excellent. In that case, please send it to me as soon as you leave here. …Are there any other personal projects you're working on at the moment?" she inquired.

" _Whyyyyyy_?" he playfully inquired back.

"There are aspects of Altered Core that I imagine will appeal to the each of the Diamonds for different reasons. When they've discussed it, it's highly likely that you'll be sent offworld to begin experimenting with this concept."

"Now that's a plan I like the sound of! And no, I don't have any other projects goin' on."

"Good. Now—"

"Wait, when you said offworld did you mean off Earth or Homeworld?"

"Off of Homeworld, Onyx; but they wouldn't send you back to this planet either, for obvious reasons…"

"Yeah…" he agreed. "You think they'd let me take a look around the pearl-buildin' factories on Homeworld before I go, for research? I've always wanted to see the Nacrarium in person."

"The Nacrarium? You're not going to be that lucky." Hematite said disdainfully.

"Whut, you don't like them over there?" Onyx replied, a little surprised by her apparent distaste.

"No, I don't _dislike_ them..."

"Buht…"

"But they're unlikely to take any notice of altered core hybridization until it's been tested, rigorously, and then the hybrid Gems will have to meet their aesthetic standards. They've been making pearls for thousands of years, and they're not going to risk that reputation they've acquired for any _fusion_ or their voguish idea." she explained.

"Well somebody's going to miss out then…" Onyx said with a grin.

He was largely unfazed by her words, and in the back of his mind was expecting that sort of response from them: the Nacrarium was as old as it was mysterious, and very few were unaware of its reputation for simplicity and elegance — they didn't have to worry too much about ideas like his because their pearls were always going to sell.

"It'd be their own fault." she said brusquely. "Doing research at the Nacrarium would be a waste of time anyway, even if they were to let you 'look around'. Silver Edge or Astral would be much better choices; they're a lot bigger, they're less traditional, and they'd both be more inclined to support your work."

"Didn't you used to be with CaratArma?" Onyx probed.

"What has that got to do with anything?" Hematite retorted, looking puzzled.

"Well shouldn't you trying to send me there? You're not a very good salesperson…"

She sighed.

"I suggested those two because they make pearls. Unless you didn't actually plan on doing any research…"

"No, I did… but how many people can say they've been inside _the_ Nacrarium?" he asked eagerly.

The Lieutenant General slowly shook her head. She would have sighed again, but really, there just wasn't any point.

"CaratArma would be willing to invest heavily the development of hybrid Gems though, even though they don't currently manufacture pearls. You'd have all the resources you could want with them. The same goes for InGem, seeing as we're on the subject: the company is built around hybridization, so they'd be very interested in this —despite the lack of alien species, if you discount the molluscs used to grow the pearls. …This is all speculation, of course," she quickly interrupted herself, realising that she was getting carried away. She stood up, and Onyx did the same. "The Diamonds may have other plans for you…" she reminded him, as much as herself.

"Hopefully those plans won't end up starting a war with anyone…" he said jokingly.

Noticing the cases still on the table, Hematite prompted:

"Your seed crystals…?"

" _Your_ seed crystals." he corrected with a smile. "I'd like you to have 'em."

"Oh… thank you." she said, struggling to keep her own smile under control.

They continued looking at each other a little longer, long enough for her to feel a rush of… something, which was replaced as quickly as it had come by an intense sense of inappropriateness; abruptly she moved towards the main door, and when the huge block of metal had ascended into the ceiling she turned to Onyx:

"I really can't tell you how impressed I am with you."

"And I cain't tell you how pleased I am to hear you say that. I look forward to seeing you again, Director. Real soon…"

With that he turned away from her and strolled down the corridor, and she watched until closing blast door obscured her view of him.

She sighed, and then she smiled, and then she walked back to her desk to plan her next move…

_The End_


	5. Glossary

Glossary

**Astral** : Astral Industries — one of the Crystal System's most well-known companies, specialising in producing Gems (mainly for scientific roles, but pearls as well)

**deposit** : an underground collection of some gem or other desirable rock

**flash program** : a collection of commands/facts/relationships and/or other data written (uploaded) to a Gem's gem to remove the need for traditional teaching (see 'Infinite Facet' (chapter 3) for a Gem's recollection of having a flash program uploaded)

**ground-time** : the length of time between the injection of a _seed-crystal_ and the _self-faceting_ of a fully grown gemstone

**ignition** : when the consciousness within a _self-faceted_ gem understands that there is an 'outside' that exists externally to everything it has known so far — an event marked by the emission of an electromagnetic pulse from the gemstone. Gemstones removed from the ground before this occurs are termed 'undercooked', while those removed from the ground too long after this occurs are termed 'overcooked' — both conditions considered undesirable for their own reasons.

**matrix** : the rock that gems or other desirable stones are embedded in

**mineral transmutation** : the conversion of previously lifeless rock into a living gemstone (kindergartening)

**order** : an ordinal number describing the number of individuals within a (fusion) Gem — a first order Gem is an unfused person, a third order Gem is a fusion consisting of three first order individuals. On its own the term gives no indication of whether the fusion is homogeneous (all component Gems are of the same _variety_ ) or heterogeneous (one or more component Gems are of different varieties).

**pearl-shell** : the shelled-molluscs in which pearls are grown

**self-faceting** : when a growing kindergarten-made gemstone has taken in enough energy from its surroundings it differentiates itself from the surrounding material — a clear separation between the gemstone and any excess material is observed, and regardless of whether the stone actually has facets or not, it is now considered to have self-faceted. The gem can now be extracted from its matrix safely.

**seed crystal** : a small, solid, dazzling rock injected into a planet's crust by an injector — derived from the gemetic material of at least one previously existing gemstone, and designed to grow in a particular _variety_ of mineral. They convert the 'lifeless rock' around them into a living gemstone by absorbing the life energy from the wider area (see episode 'Keeping it Together')

**species (of Gem)** : a main 'family' of gem types, into which a number of _varieties_ fit — e.g. corundum, beryl, quartz

**variety (of Gem)** : the unique subtypes of a certain type of gem — e.g. ruby and sapphire are the varieties of corundum; goshenite, morganite and bixbite are varieties of beryl

**wave transmission pylon** : metal towers spaced throughout a pearl farm that continuously transmit sound waves of a wide range of frequencies, the messages transmitted in this way become deeply ingrained in the pearls' subconscious minds, making them difficult to overcome


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